Camping-Car Park, Hermanville-sur-Mer

 Tuesday 21st April

 Moving north this morning, we stopped to get some shopping at Super U on the outskirts of Caen, only to find that the car park was being dug up!  A small part of it was being used, but couldn't see a way into it and anyway there didn't look like space for the size of us!  So John successfully backed us out to the road and we found space in a layby not too far away.  And so we came to Hermanville-sur-Mer, part of the D-Day landing beach of SWORD.   

Although where we are is close to the village, it was quite a walk to the sea, where were reminded of the great courage and the losses that took place here on 6 June 1944.

 

Both days we have been blown away with the fresh air!  These pictures of the beach make it look so calm, but it was very very blustery!

Just to the right of centre of this picture, there is actually someone in the water!
One of the sea-front houses.

After all that wind, we retreated to the nearby cafe for a hot drink.
Seen on our walk back to the van.


The church next to us.

The mairie in the park opposite our site.  (We sat on that seat again today on the way back from our long walk.)
Our resting place at Hermanville.

Wednesday 22nd April

A short walk through the park to the boulangerie and back - we think they are very keen to show they cater for the disabled here.

Then with a packed lunch, we walked to the next beach west along the coast, Lion-sur-Mer.  Although not as strong as yesterday, it is still windy, so sat on a seat in the village to eat our picnic, before hitting the prom.

Just one lonely beach hut!

The houses all along this coast are all very large and mostly attractive, but some are very odd and some positively awful!  Here's a few of them:

 





Two contented cows in an orchard on our way back.

Then in a peaceful little backstreet close to the village, we came to one of the many memorial cemetaries.  What a moving place this is.  Rows and rows of headstones in beautifully kept gardens.


In the building we could look in the memorial register book, so we decided to focus on one of the many Williams', this one an engineer, found his stone in row L and thanked him for his part in liberating the French and playing his part in ending that awful war.


Comments

  1. Wendy F23 April 2026 at 05:27

    Beautiful photos. We have the strong winds too - Force 8 was recorded yesterday! At least it is not raining.

    ReplyDelete

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